On an Austral Beach. 
H5 
higher than the sea-level. In the evening we 
saw the sea and lagoon on a level, and only 
divided by a narrow strip of sand ; another 
thunderstorm or a heavy sea or two would have 
washed this away, and a wide entrance have 
been formed, only to be closed up again in a 
few weeks. All over the placid lake (whose 
waters are very brackish) were parties of black 
swans swimming lazily to and fro, or resting 
asleep, and not deigning to notice the noisy 
ducks and waterhens around them. On the 
other bank long rows of pelicans stood in solemn 
silence. The waters were alive with fish, and, 
indeed, that afternoon the four of us caught 
whiting and bream till we were tired. One 
only needed to stand on the sand and fling his 
line into about two feet of water, when the bait 
would be literally rushed, for the lagoon entrance 
having been closed to the sea for over a month, 
the fish had all gathered at the sea end, their 
instinct telling them that it might force a 
passage through at any moment. After spend¬ 
ing an hour in attempting to get a shot at 
a flock of ducks, we returned to camp to eat 
our fish and game. We lazed away two 
delightful days, and then, saddling our horses 
